Mame (musical)

Mame is a musical with the book by Jerome Lawrence and Robert Edwin Lee and music and lyrics by Jerry Herman. Originally titled My Best Girl, it is based on the 1955 novel Auntie Mame by Patrick Dennis and a 1956 Broadway play, by Lawrence and Lee, that starred Rosalind Russell. Set in New York City and spanning the Great Depression and World War II, it focuses on eccentric bohemian Mame Dennis, whose famous motto is "Life is a banquet and most poor sons of bitches are starving to death."[1] Her fabulous life with her wealthy friends is interrupted when the young son of her late brother arrives to live with her. They cope with the Depression in a series of adventures.

Mame
Original Broadway Poster
MusicJerry Herman
LyricsJerry Herman
BookJerome Lawrence
Robert Edwin Lee
BasisAuntie Mame
by Patrick Dennis
Productions1966 Broadway
1968 Australia
1969 West End
1983 Broadway revival
Angela Lansbury, 1966
Original Broadway cast members Bea Arthur and Angela Lansbury at the 41st annual Emmy Awards (1989). The two remained close friends over the years.

In 1958, a film titled Auntie Mame, based on the play, was released by Warner Bros. Pictures, once again starring Rosalind Russell in the title role. Russell was nominated for an Academy Award and won a Golden Globe for her portrayal.

The musical opened on Broadway in 1966, starring Angela Lansbury and Bea Arthur. The production became a hit and spawned a 1974 film with Lucille Ball in the title role and Arthur reprising her supporting role, as well as a London production, a Broadway revival, and a 40th anniversary revival at the Kennedy Center in 2006.

Background

The musical was inspired by the success of the 1956 Broadway comedy and subsequent 1958 film version starring Rosalind Russell, as well as the 1955 novel by Patrick Dennis. According to Stephen Citron, in Jerry Herman: Poet of the Showtune, the "kudos [for Auntie Mame] made all involved immediately think of musicalizing the play."[2] Dennis wrote several more comic novels, including a sequel, Around the World with Auntie Mame, and Little Me, which was made into a Broadway musical starring Sid Caesar. The success of that musical may have prompted Lawrence and Lee to turn Mame into a musical. Mary Martin turned down the title role,[3] and after numerous actresses had been considered, the part went to Angela Lansbury. For its second run, Jerry Herman wanted to cast Judy Garland. He was talked out of it by the producers of the show who had deemed her a liability based on her recent unreliable past experience on another production.[4][5][3][6]

Herman has stated it took six months to write the score.[7]

Productions

Original Broadway

The musical opened on Broadway at the Winter Garden Theatre on May 24, 1966. Three years later, it transferred to The Broadway Theatre, where it remained until closing on January 3, 1970. Between the two venues, it ran a total of 1,508 performances and five previews. The musical was directed by Gene Saks, choreographed by Onna White with scenic design by William and Jean Eckart, costume design by Robert Mackintosh, lighting design by Tharon Musser and orchestrations by Philip J. Lang. Besides Lansbury as Mame, the cast included Bea Arthur as Vera Charles, Frankie Michaels as Patrick, Jane Connell as Agnes Gooch, Charles Braswell as Beauregard Jackson Pickett Burnside,[8] and Willard Waterman (who had played Claude Upson in the 1958 film) as Dwight Babcock.

Lansbury, Arthur and Michaels all won Tony Awards, while Saks, White, the writers, Herman, and set designers William and Jean Eckart all received nominations.

When Lansbury took a two-week vacation in August 1967 Celeste Holm played the title role, prior to heading the National Tour, and "garnered ecstatic reviews" including from the New York Times.[9] When Lansbury left the Broadway production on March 30, 1968, to take the show on a limited US tour, Janis Paige was the star chosen to be the new Broadway Mame, starting in April 1968.[3] Paige's run and the show itself continued to be so successful that she was followed by Jane Morgan (December 1968), who was followed by Ann Miller (May 1969).[10][11]

National tours

Celeste Holm, who played the role on Broadway for two weeks when Lansbury took a vacation, continued in the role in the first National Tour. When Lansbury left the Broadway production she led a second limited tour that played in San Francisco starting in April 1968 and also played Los Angeles.[12][13][14]

Australia

The Australian production presented by J.C. Williamson’s opened at Her Majesty’s Theatre, Melbourne on May 25, 1968, and subsequently played seasons in Adelaide, Perth and Sydney. Gaylea Burn starred as Mame Dennis, alongside Mary Hardy as Agnes Gooch, Sheila Bradley as Vera Charles and Geoff Hiscock as Beauregard.[15]

West End

The 1969 West End production starred Ginger Rogers in the title role and Margaret Courtenay as Vera. It ran for a fourteen-month engagement at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane with a special performance for Queen Elizabeth II. Victor Woolf was the stage manager for this production.[16][17][18]

Other productions

Susan Hayward appeared in the Las Vegas production, while such stars as Ann Sothern, Janet Blair, Jane Russell, Elaine Stritch, Edie Adams, Patrice Munsel, Kitty Carlisle, Carol Lawrence, Shani Wallis, Juliet Prowse and Sheila Smith have appeared in stock, regional or touring productions.

In 1976, a Mexican production was performed in Mexico City with Silvia Pinal in the title role and Evangelina Elizondo as Vera. In 1985, Pinal reprised the production with the Spanish actress María Rivas as Vera. In 2014/2015, a Mexican new production was performed in Mexico with Itati Cantoral and Alicia Machado in the title role and Dalilah Polanco as Vera.

Despite the presence of Lansbury, a much-heralded Broadway revival was ultimately unsuccessful. After seven previews, it opened on July 24, 1983 at the George Gershwin Theatre,[19] where it ran for only 41 performances.[20]

In 1999, The Production Company in Melbourne, Australia staged Mame for their very first season, starring Rhonda Burchmore. [21]In 2008, The Production Company staged Mame once more, in celebration for their tenth anniversary, which Rhonda Burchmore reprising her role.[22]

A production ran at the Alex Theatre, Glendale, California in April 1994, starring Juliet Prowse as Mame,[23] Gretchen Wyler as Vera and Marsha Kramer as Gooch.[24]

The Paper Mill Playhouse (Millburn, New Jersey), produced the musical in September and October 1999, starring Christine Ebersole and Kelly Bishop as "Vera Charles".[25] The Kennedy Center production ran from June 1, 2006 to July 2, and starred Christine Baranski as Mame, Harriet Sansom Harris as Vera, and Emily Skinner as Gooch.[26]

The first UK production in fifty years opened at the Hope Mill Theatre in Manchester in September 2019.[27] This production starred Tracie Bennett as Mame and Harriet Thorpe as Vera.

Adaptations
Main article: Mame (film)

A 1974 film version of the musical starred Lucille Ball as Mame, Beatrice Arthur reprising her role as Vera Charles, Jane Connell reprising her role as Agnes Gooch and Robert Preston as Beauregard. It was both a US box office failure and a critical disappointment with Lucille Ball being considered not up to the musical demands of the title role.

Synopsis

The madcap life of eccentric Mame Dennis and her bohemian, intellectual arty clique is disrupted when her deceased brother's 10-year-old son Patrick is entrusted to her care. Rather than bow to convention, Mame introduces the boy to her free-wheeling lifestyle, instilling in him her favorite credo, "Life is a banquet, and most poor sons-of-bitches are starving to death." Figuring in the storyline are Agnes Gooch (Mame's personal secretary and nanny-in-law), Vera Charles (her "bosom buddy" baritone actress and world's greatest lush) and Dwight Babcock (the stuffy and officious executor of her brother's estate). Mame loses her fortune in the Wall Street Crash of 1929 and tries her hand at a number of jobs with comically disastrous results but perseveres with good humor and an irrepressible sense of style.

Mame then meets and marries Beauregard Jackson Pickett Burnside, a Southern aristocrat with a Georgia plantation called Peckerwood. The trustees of Patrick's father force Mame to send Patrick off to boarding school (the fictional St Boniface, in Massachusetts), and Mame and Beau travel the world on an endless honeymoon that stops when Beau falls to his death while mountain climbing. Mame returns home a wealthy widow to discover that Patrick has become a snob engaged to an equally priggish debutante, Gloria Upson, from a bigoted family. Mame brings Patrick to his senses just in time to introduce him to the woman who will eventually become his wife, Pegeen Ryan. As the story ends, Mame is preparing to take Patrick's young son, Peter, to India with her usual flair.

Musical numbers

Recording

A cast recording of the Broadway production was released on the Columbia Masterworks label in 1966. [28] A CD version, with five bonus tracks, was released by Legacy Recordings in 1999. The bonus tracks include demo versions of "St. Bridget", "It's Today", "Open a New Window", and "Mame", as well as the song "Camouflage" (intended to be sung between Mame Dennis and Vera Charles prior to the discussion of whether Patrick could stay with Mame), all performed by Jerry Herman and Alice Borden. (Another cut song, "Love is only Love", was to be sung by Mame to Patrick before "The Fox Hunt"; it was later used in the movie version of Hello, Dolly!.)

In 1966, Bobby Darin, Louis Armstrong, and Herb Alpert all charted in the United States and Canada with their cover records of the musical's title song. Eydie Gormé had a huge success with her recording of "If He Walked into My Life",[28] for which she received a 1967 Grammy Award for Best Female Vocal Performance. "We Need a Little Christmas" is a well known holiday tune and can be heard in several Disney Christmas parades.

Awards and nominations

Original Broadway production
Year Award Category Nominee Result
1966 Tony Award Best Musical Nominated
Best Composer and Lyricist Jerry Herman Nominated
Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical Angela Lansbury Won
Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical Frankie Michaels Won
Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical Beatrice Arthur Won
Best Direction of a Musical Gene Saks Nominated
Best Choreography Onna White Nominated
Best Scenic Design William and Jean Eckart Nominated
Theatre World Award Jerry Lanning Won
1967 Sheila Smith Won

See also

References
  1. "Sons of bitches" was changed to "suckers" in the film version. Weaver, David E. "Mame’s Boys: Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee" Archived 2014-02-22 at the Wayback Machine, Ohioana Quarterly, Fall 2006, Ohioana Library Association, accessed September 5, 2012.
  2. Citron, Stephen. "Chapter 'Mame'", Jerry Herman: Poet of the Showtune, Yale University Press, 2008, ISBN 0300133243, p. 124.
  3. R.T. Jordan, But Darling, I'm Your Auntie Mame!: The Amazing History of the World's Favorite Madcap Aunt Kensington Books. 2004, ISBN 0758204825, pp. 111-112, 142-143.
  4. "50 Great Things About MAME". Tamswitmark.com. Tams-Witmark: A Concord Theatricals Company. Archived from the original on 16 December 2019. Retrieved 16 December 2019. Jerry Herman wanted Judy Garland to replace Angela Lansbury when Lansbury’s run ended, and he worked with Garland on the numbers. But the producers knew she was unfit to handle the rigors of a Broadway schedule.
  5. "MAME Fact #5: "Multitudes of Mame-ies"". Iwillregretthislater.com. 11 September 2017. Archived from the original on 16 December 2019. Retrieved 16 December 2019. But for all the Mames there were, there was the one that wasn’t: Judy Garland. Jerry Herman thought she’d be perfect. And he almost got his wish. Almost. It was a big help that Garland adored the show; she’d seen it three times starring Lansbury during 1967. When she expressed interest in playing the role, Herman says, “I just about lost my mind. I was the craziest, most ardent Judy Garland fan of all time. I still am. I worshipped that woman. It was a passion that went beyond reason. She sang, and it was a religious experience for me.” The pursuance of her for the role even led to several meetings. But her reputation preceded her. After having been recently fired from the film adaptation of Valley of the Dolls, Judy was deemed to be too much of a liability. The producers of Mame told Herman, “We cannot entrust this show to Miss Garland. We have the backers to consider, and we cannot risk a show that is at its peak and has many more years to go. If it all falls apart because she doesn’t show up on opening night, we will have destroyed everything that we worked so hard to create.” Herman still lobbied on her behalf. As he put it, “Even a bad performance from Judy Garland would be an event. Just to have Judy Garland in this show for one night would be magical— historical.” Reflecting on the incident, Garland told her daughter Liza Minnelli her, “heart was broken, because she knew how right she was for it.” Garland was dead two years later. And, for Herman, she would always be “The [Mame] That Got Away.”
  6. " 'Mame' " AngelaLansbury.net, accessed December 31, 2011.
  7. Hansen, Liane; Herman, Jerry (4 June 2006). "Jerry Herman on 'Mame', One Grand Dame". Npr.org. NPR. Archived from the original on 16 December 2019. Retrieved 16 December 2019. 'How long did it take you [, Mr. Herman,] to finish [writing the score after writing the first song]?' [...] 'About six months, which is fast'
  8. "'Mame' Broadway" playbillvault.com
  9. Jordan, p. 140.
  10. Mordden, Ethan. Open a New Window: The Broadway Musical in the 1960s (Golden Age of the Broadway Musical), Palgrave Macmillan, 2001, p. 115.
  11. "'Mame' Replacements" playbillvault.com, accessed January 10, 2015.
  12. Zolotow, Sam (December 29, 1967). "Arrabal Play to Open on Coast Before Broadway - Ball of San Francisco Group to Adapt and Stage Comedy - Troupe to Share in Profits - 'Mame' Takes to Road". New York Times. p. 17.
  13. "'Mame' Realigning Cast for Departing Star". New York Times. March 13, 1968. p. 39.
  14. Windeler, Robert (June 29, 1968). "Angela Lansbury a Hit in Coast 'Mame'". New York Times. p. 19.
  15. "AusStage". www.ausstage.edu.au. Retrieved 2020-06-19.
  16. "Victor Woolf Theatre Credits, News, Bio and Photos". Broadwayworld.com. Retrieved 2019-08-21.
  17. "'Mame' Cast" broadwayworld.com, accessed January 10, 2016.
  18. "'Mame' West End" broadwayworld.com, accessed January 10, 2016.
  19. Rich, Frank. "Stage: Angela Lansbury Stars In 'Mame' Revival", The New York Times, July 25, 1983.
  20. "'Mame' 1983" playbillvault.com, accessed January 10, 2016.
  21. "AusStage". www.ausstage.edu.au. Retrieved 2020-06-19.
  22. "AusStage". www.ausstage.edu.au. Retrieved 2020-06-19.
  23. McCulloh, T. H. "'Mame' Ages Gracefully" Los Angeles Times, April 8, 1994.
  24. Shirley, Don. "Theater Review: 'Mame' Loses Its Kick in Alex Staging" Los Angeles Times, April 11, 1994.
  25. Jones, Kenneth and Ehren, Christine. "Bosom Buddies Bow: Paper Mill's 'Mame' Officially Opens Sept. 11" playbill.com, September 11, 1999.
  26. Gans, Andrew. "Christine Baranski 'Mame' Will Not Play Broadway" Archived 2007-09-30 at the Wayback Machine, Playbill, June 27, 2006.
  27. https://hopemilltheatre.co.uk/events/mame/
  28. "'Mame' Cast Recording" allmusic.com, accessed January 10, 2016.
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